Defensive Injuries Could Spell Disaster For Eagles In Home Opener
Unfortunately, for the Philadelphia Eagles, their 25-20 win over the New England Patriots came at a price.
Linebacker Nakobe Dean was placed on Injured Reserve (IR) with a foot injury. The quarterback of the defense with the green dot on his helmet which means he can communicate with the defensive coordinator will be Christian Ellis. Ellis came in the game late against the Patriots and will make his first career start against the Minnesota Vikings tonight.
The Eagles will also be without cornerback James Bradberry (concussion), safety Reed Blankenship (ribs), and Kenneth Gainwell (ribs) will all also be out tonight. Defensive tackle Fletcher Cox is listed as questionable (ribs). Cornerback Josh Jobe, Safety Sydney Brown, and Running back De’Andre Swift will all be getting the start at those positions, respectively. Jobe and Brown will be making their first career starts. So for Eagles fans, tonight may be more nervous than usual for a home opener and with all those injuries and starters being out.
Photo Credit: Sports Illustrated
So the Eagles will be looking for Josh Jobe, Sydney Brown, and Christian Ellis all making their first career start in the NFL. As the phrase goes these three players will need to “grow up” quickly before the game tonight. Ellis will be calling out the defense tonight and with a linebacker group that is not highly touted throughout the NFL the Eagles are already at a disadvantage especially going against a veteran quarterback like Kirk Cousins.
Photo Credit: Philly Voice
Josh Jobe did a solid job the final couple of plays in that last series against the Patriots and was the corner that knocked rookie wide receiver Kayshon Boutte out of bounds resulting in an incompletion that did not allow the receiver to get both feet in bounds.
Tonight, Jobe will also be lined up against another rookie wide receiver Jordan Addison, a first round pick out of Southern California. Addison caught 4 passes for 61 yards and a touchdown against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Jobe is a player that Nick Sirianni said “We have a lot of confidence in Jobe.” Jobe will be lined up across from Darius Slay, with a big task on his hands covering the reigning Offensive Player of the Year, Vikings wide receiver Justin Jefferson.
Photo Credit: Philly Voice
Brown will be trying to calm his nerves down as the rookie safety makes his first career start. Mac Jones shredded the Eagles’ secondary for 316 passing yards and 3 passing touchdowns. A majority of those touchdowns came because of miscommunication for the secondary and now that will be up to Brown to correct those mistakes tonight. Is the rookie ready? Well, the Eagles sure seemed confident enough in the young safety for him to get his first start tonight.
